Moore, who doesn't have a single senior on his roster, said youth wasn't a factor in the outcome.

"We looked like a tentative team coming out," Moore said. "Being left out last year may have been a contributing factor, but we're not inexperienced. We just played tentative."

Oregon had qualified for the tournament four years in a row before it was left out in 2010. The Ducks twice advanced to the round of 16 and had won its opening-round game three consecutive times before losing to the Rams (24-5), the reigning Mountain West Conference champions.

Colorado State used its height in the middle to slow the Ducks down, owning an 18-6 advantage in blocks.

"We are one of the best blocking teams in the country," Colorado State coach Tom Hilbert said. "I think that makes a difference and creates some more unforced errors for them."

Hitting errors doomed the Ducks in the second set after Oregon rallied from a 23-21 deficit in the first.

Bergsma, who came out firing with 11 kills in the first set, started to slow down as CSU tandem of Plourde and Brieon Paige started to key in on her.

Plourde finished with a season-high 11 block assists, helping to wear Bergsma out throughout the match.

"We realized after the first game that (Bergsma) had so many kills that we needed to just (key on) her a little bit more," Plourde said. "We really just focused on getting our hands over the night to block the ball down a little better."

Bergsma hit .210 for the match, but committed five of her 13 hitting errors in the decisive fifth set and had five of the team's 13 service errors.